Pneumatic connecting device



1927. Apnl M. NANNl PNEUMATIC CONNECTING DEVICE Filed May 5, 1926 1 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 19, 1927.

M. NANNi PNEUMATIC CONNECTING DEVICE Filed May 5, 1926 4 Shoots-Sheet 5 W n 2. m m v l Ell/4 I.

I'h ven far wm/ww April 19,1927. 1,625,372

M. NANNI PNEUMATIC CONNECTING DEVICE Filed May 5, 1926 4-Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Apr. 19, 192a "umrsu morn HARM, or. :rrvom, um noun, ITALY.

The'object of my. presentinvention is a pneumaticconnectin device by: which two parts-or bodies may e-firmly connected together by a 'door .with pneumatic rings, such 6 connection being opened atwill', in a rapid,

ea? and sim le way.

n-order t at my .new'connectmg system may be better understood 1 am going to describe same byway of example as applied to m an insubmergible life-saving cabin for submarine boats, the said cabin being used as a lod 'ng for the crew of a submarine boat WhlCh owing to an accident should be prevented from returning to the surface of the water. The said cabin may be detached at any moment and atany depth of submersion from the submarine vessel by means of a special device comprising a. door with a pneumatic ring, which forms the main feature of m resent invention. I

0 above said insubmergible cabin is a solid structure of cylindrical shape with hemis heric top and bottom or ends in Order to resist the enormous pressures to which the "Z submarine boat is exposed under water.

There are no air chambers in the cabin, which, however, is so built that even when damaged or entirely filled with water is comelled to rise to the surface of the water. It is connected to the submarine boat by the above said door with pneumatic ring and s herical bodies subdivided into hemispheres tightly adhering together. Two or more hemispheres or rings are solidly bolted to the bodies to be united thereby obtaining the compact and solid connection of two bodies b causin the said hemispheres or rings to tightly 9. her of complete spheres and rings from which then airwill be extracted by an airpum so as to form as rfect a vacuum as possi le. In this way e enormous atmospheric pressure-is utilized as a means of sealmg the hemispheres together as the atmospheric pressure acts on the whole surface of the spheres with kg. 1.0333 to each square centimeter foreach atmosphere.

For instance 1 atmosphere is equal to 76 centimeters of mercury, or the specific lio'weight of mercury is 13596 times heavier than air. 1 atmosphere, at the level of the sea, is ual to 76 represented by the mercury mu tiplied by 13596 represented by the air, m. 10.333 of water represents 1 atmosphere, or, in other'words, 1 atmosphere is are together so as'to form a num-.

I v mmumrxc oommc'rme' nnvrcia' ustered m 5,1026, Serial No. 106,921, and in Italy $181511 27, an.

equal to a weig htf bf kg. 1.0333 to each square centimeter.

Example: If an insubmergible cabin is attached to a submarine boatby four hemispheres and a door with neumatic ring according to invention, an has a total outer surface of 2 square meters,in order to detach the cabin from the submarine vessel the latter being at the surface, an enormous raising force equal to kg. 20.666 lus the weight of the cabin is to be displayed If the submarine vessel is at a depth of m. 10.333 of water the, resistance to be overcome will be double, and so forth for greater depths. It must be kept in mind that in the calculation of resistance one musttake in account the number of kilograms represented by the ascensional power of reserve of the insubmergible cabin which when submerged being lighter than the volume of water displacing the difierence of this weight will represent the loss by an equal number of kilo- 1 grams in adherence. The most important feature of my present invention is the door with pneumatic ring which is so built as to 80 permit of superposing the insubmergible cabin to one or more hatches of the subma-- rine boat. My said door permits of opening the said hatches from the interior of the submarine boat when submerged to any depth so as to be able to enter the insubmerglble cabin without feeling the enormous water pressure acting from the outside.

The said door with pneumatic ring permits of tightly closing both the hatch and the insubmergible cabin by insulating the enormous outer atmospheric and hydric pressure from the ordinary inside pressure. The door with pneumatic ring closes tightly both the hatch of the submarine vessel and the entrance of the insubmergible cabin. It

slides in the manner to a sluice-gate, and remains adherent owing to the vacuum proy duced in. the interior and by utilizing the weight of the air and water actingfrom without.

By opening a special tight closing valve device air or water may at any time beadmitted into the spheres and the pneumatic ring of the door, thereby restoring rapidly in an easy and instantaneous manner the atmospheric equilibrium, and therefore owing to the external pressure being removed my insubmergible cabin will be detached and, owing to its floating power, rise to the sur- "9 2. Coupling means for retaininglife saving chambers on submarine boats and the like including substantially similar hatch- Ways upon the life savi chamber and the submarine boat, said hate ways being adapted, when brought together, to form a fluidtight means of communication between the boat and the chamber, and vacuum operatedmeans at the meeting ed es of the hatch' ways for firmly uniting t em together.

3. Coupling means as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that each of said hatchways is rovided with means adapted to close the atchway in a fluid-tight manner,

said closures being adapted, when thehatches are brought together, to form a'double pressure seal between the boat and the life saving chamber.

4. Coupling means for retaining life saving chambers on submarine boats and the like including-substantially similar hatchways upon the life saving chamber and the submarine boat, said hatchways being adapt-- ed, when brought together, to form a fluidtight means of communication between the boat and the chamber, and vacuum operated means at the meetin edges of the hatchways. for firmly unitingt em together, auxiha tween the ends of the li ev coupling devices saving chamber and adjacent parts of the submarine vessels, said cou ling devices including com lementary holibw members fitted to the li e saving member and the adjacent parts of the boat and adapted to meet at their opposing edges in an air tight manmay be exhausted by a common exhausting device.-

7. A couplin 4 characteriz by the provision of means associated with the vacuum operated means and coupling devices controlled from the insaving chamber from the submarine boat.

means as claimed in claim 'terior of the life saving chamber for simultaneously flooding them to detach the life In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

" ENo'r'r-i lunar; 

